How To Claim For A Burnt Chest From Hot Food?

By Danielle Newton. Last Updated 20th December 2022. If you’ve suffered a burnt chest from hot food, you may be able to claim compensation. In order to make a claim, you will need to prove that third-party negligence led to your injuries.

This guide will explain the circumstances in which your injury could have come about as a result of negligence. In addition to this, we’ll clarify the symptoms of a burnt chest and the potential amount of compensation you could receive for a burned oesophagus. 

To learn more about claiming for a hot food burn, please contact our advisors 24/7 for free legal advice. They can tell you in just a few minutes if you can claim compensation and can even put you through to a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor from our panel. To contact them, please use the details below. 

• Call us using 0800 408 7825
• Contact us through our website.
• Use the Live Chat window on the right-hand side of your screen.

Please read on to learn more about claiming for a hot food burn injury caused by negligence. 

Select A Section

1. What Is A Burnt Chest From Hot Food?
2. Types Of Burnt Chest Injuries
3. Can You Burn The Inside Of Your Chest From Hot Food?
4. What Are The Symptoms Of Internal And External Burns?
5. How To Treat A Burnt Chest From Hot Food
6. Burn Injury Settlements Amount UK
7. Talk To A No Win No Fee Solicitor About Claiming For A Burnt Chest From Hot Food
8. About Burns And Scalds

What Is A Burnt Chest From Hot Food?

You may be wondering, “can really hot food burn your oesophagus?” and “can you burn inside your chest from hot food?” Food temperature can be very important as both internal and external burns and scalds can occur if eating or drinking something too hot. You may be able to claim if the injuries you’ve suffered were caused by third-party negligence. 

Negligence is where someone who has a duty of care towards you breaches this duty. A duty of care is a responsibility that someone has to ensure your safety in a certain environment. For instance, you might experience a burn due to food in a workplace canteen or a restaurant. If this is the case, it could be the result of a breach of duty of care. 

Depending on the type of injury you sustain, suffering a burnt chest from hot food can be very painful. It can greatly affect your quality of life. In some cases, the symptoms can be permanent. For example, a burn from hot food could leave you scarred. 

You can call our advisors for free legal advice. They are available 24/7 and can answer any queries or questions you have about the claims process. Otherwise, you can read on to find out about the different categories of burns that you could experience.  

Types Of Burnt Chest Injuries

Firstly, we will clarify the types of external injuries you could experience due to suffering a burnt chest from hot food. The burn could damage different layers of skin based on how significant the burns are.

The four layers are the: 

• Epidermis – This is the thin, outer layer of skin that is visible to the naked eye. You could suffer a superficial epidermal burn, where the skin will be red and slightly swollen. 
• Dermis – This is the layer below the epidermis and above the subcutaneous fat. It is the thickest layer of skin and is made up of elastic and fibrous tissue. A superficial dermal burn will result in pale pink, painful skin. There may also be some small blisters. 
• Subcutaneous fat – This is the layer of fat underneath the dermis. This fat is usually harmless and can help protect you from diseases. A deep dermal/partial thickness burn will damage this layer. The skin might turn red and blotchy and may be very dry or moist. 
• Subcutis – This is the bottom layer of skin or tissue beneath the outer skin that largely consists of fatty cells. If you have experienced a full-thickness burn, this layer of tissue will have been damaged. The skin may have been burned away, and the remaining tissue might be pale or blackened. 

A severe burn can greatly affect your quality of life due to the continuing pain and suffering it can cause. Should your claim be successful, the level of compensation you could receive will consider both the initial injury and its ramifications. 

For a free, no-obligation assessment of the value of your claim, speak to one of our advisors today. You could be appointed a No Win No Fee solicitor to work on your claim.

Can You Burn The Inside Of Your Chest From Hot Food? 

It isn’t just external injuries that could be caused by hot food. Your oesophagus is a passage that runs from your mouth to your stomach. If you consume food that is too hot, you could suffer an oesophagal burn.

Therefore, it’s always important to be considerate of the temperature of the food when eating. However, this doesn’t mean that the third party in question doesn’t isn’t liable for your injuries. 

Every occupier or third party controlling public places has a duty of care to the general public. This is highlighted in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Similarly, if your burn injury occurred in your workplace because of your employer’s negligence, this could be considered a breach of their duty of care. This is set out in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. 

Therefore, if they’ve breached this duty of care and served food that was too hot to be deemed safe, you may be able to receive compensation for the injuries you have sustained.  Get in touch with one of our advisors for more information on how much you could be owed. 

Evidence For A Personal Injury Claim

If you’ve sustained a burnt chest or a burnt throat from food that was too hot, you may be able to make a personal injury claim. Burn injury claims must be supported by evidence.

Below, we’ve included some examples of the evidence you could use in support of your claim:

• Medical evidence. If you’ve been injured, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. The records from an appointment with a doctor or visit to a hospital could support your clam. In addition to this, you’ll have the best chance of making a recovery with prompt treatment.
• CCTV footage. If any footage shows the incident taking place, then you can request this. You may then be able to use it to support your case.
• Witness details. If anyone saw the incident take place, then you can collect their contact details so that they can provide a statement at a later point in the process.

If you would like to know more about the burn injury claims process, speak with an advisor today.

What Are The Symptoms Of Internal And External Burns?

You may be wondering what some symptoms of a burned oesophagus from hot food are. You can experience varying symptoms based on where you’ve experienced the burn. For example, external burn symptoms caused by a burnt chest from hot food include: 

• Pain and swelling
• Blisters
• Peeling and charred skin

The symptoms of oesophagal thermal burns may differ. The oesophagus can become inflamed due to the burn injury. This is called esophagitis and can cause such symptoms as: 

• Pain in your chest or throat. 
• Blisters
• Issues speaking or swallowing due to the pain caused
• Internal bleeding. This can be discovered upon finding blood in your vomit, for instance. 

How To Treat A Burnt Chest From Hot Food

Treatment for a burnt chest from hot food depends on whether the injury occurred externally or internally. Medical professionals or doctors will confirm the appropriate treatment once they have assessed your injury. Treatment for external burns includes:

• Applying a sterile dressing to the burn wound
• Having an injection to prevent tetanus. You might contract tetanus if bacteria gets into the wound. 
• Pain relief. 
• A specialist burns care service. This is because surgery may be needed if the injury is severe enough. A skin graft might be performed in this instance, replacing the burnt skin with skin from another healthy area of your body. 

It can be trickier to answer questions like, “how do you treat a burnt oesophagus?” If you’ve suffered a burnt oesophagus from hot food, the chest pain treatment you’ll be offered will depend on the severity of your injury. According to NHS guidance, you may be told to avoid drinking alcohol or smoking, as well as eating hot or spicy food while the injury is healing. 

Depending on the extent of the burn, it can take months for this type of injury to fully heal. Please refer to your doctor or healthcare provider who will clarify the treatment plan and prognosis for you. 

Burn Injury Settlements Amount UK

You may wish to know more about burn compensation amounts if you’ve been burnt on the chest by hot food. Burn injury settlements amount in the UK could be impacted by pain and suffering as well as financial losses incurred due to the burn.

General damages seeks to compensate for your pain and suffering. To help assign value to your burns, legal professionals may use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document provides bracketed amounts for general damages. We’ve provided a table with examples from the latest update of the JCG below.

Type of Injury	Amount of Compensation	Description
Chest	£65,740 to £100,670	This bracket is for injuries that cause a traumatic injury to the lung(s), chest and/or heart leading to permanent damage, physical disability and a reduction in life expectancy.
Chest	£31,310 to £54,830	Injuries in this bracket lead to continuing disability caused by damage to the lung(s) and chest.
Chest	£2,190 to £5,320	Injuries in this bracket cause collapsed lungs where an uncomplicated and full recovery is made.
Chest	Up to £3,950	This bracket includes soft tissue injuries or rib fractures that cause serious discomfort and pain for only a period of weeks.
Scarring	£9,110 to £30,090	This bracket is for a single disfiguring scar or a number of noticeable laceration scars of chest, back, arm(s), hand(s) or leg(s).
Scarring	Likely to exceed £104,830	This bracket is for serious burn injuries. Injuries where the significant burn damage covers over 40% of the body, more compensation than this could be awarded.

As part of your burn injury compensation, you may qualify for special damages. This is a second head of compensation that you could claim if you incurred any expenses due to your injuries. However, to claim special damages, you might need to submit proof, such as wage slips and receipts.

Special damages in burn injury compensation could include:

• Loss of wages.
• Medical expenses, including plastic surgery and prescriptions.
• Travel costs.

Call our advisors to learn more about how burn injury compensation is awarded.

Talk To A No Win No Fee Solicitor About Claiming For A Burnt Chest From Hot Food

In this section, we’ll look at the benefits of using a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor when funding legal representation for a burnt chest from hot food claim. This is also referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement and sets out the conditions that need to be met before your solicitor is paid. 

The benefits of this include:

• Not paying your solicitor at any point during the claims process
• Not having to pay legal fees to your solicitor if your claim is not successful
• Only paying legal fees to your solicitor if your claim is successful. They will take a small, legally capped portion of your compensation in the event of it being successful. 

Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice, and answer any questions or queries you may have about the claims process. They can inform you of your eligibility to claim and of how much compensation you could receive. Our specialised panel of solicitors have years of personal injury experience. They could help you get the outcome you deserve from your claim. 

You can:

• Call us using 0800 408 7825
• Contact us through our website.
• Use the Live Chat window on the right-hand side of your screen.

About Burns And Scalds 

To learn more about the claims process, use the links below. 

NHS guidance can help answer any questions you have about complications with burns and scalds. 

A guide about first aid for burns can be found on the NHS website. 

This guide on Statutory Sick Pay could show you how much you might receive if you did not get paid in full while off work for your injuries.

If you want to know more about filing a report for an accident in a public place, view our website. 

Do you want to know what to do after an accident in a public place? If so, read this guide. 

For information on how to claim for a toddler accident in a public place, please read this guide. 

We also have some other guides you may find useful:

• Public accident claims hot spots
• Council slip and trip accidents
• Public transport accidents
• How to make a public liability claim
• Making a claim against the council
• Claiming for a pothole injury
• Making a claim against a shop
• Accidents in a public park
• Cycling accident claims
• Claiming for injuries suffered while shopping

A burnt chest from hot food can be a very difficult injury to deal with. To learn more about claiming for this kind of injury, please contact us using the details above. 

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